Conventional inter-module interconnections in computer systems are effected using metal (e.g., copper) wires or circuit board runs. Metal interconnections currently support parallel data transfers to a bit rate of roughly 100 MHz. While it is desirable to increase this rate, the metal interconnections are limited by bandwidth and noise factors.
Optical interconnections may be used to replace the metal ones. U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,167 to Levine, U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,088 to Gfeller, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,790 to Mollenauer are examples of optical communication systems. While these optical communication systems have advantages over the metal interconnection, an optical system is susceptible to many of the same noise sources.
The present invention seeks to improve the signal-to-noise ratio available from known interconnections by eliminating the major sources of noise contamination.